Electronic circuit boards are manufactured by mounting components on a printed circuit board. The printed circuit board includes printed circuit wiring which connects terminals of the components in an electrical circuit. The electrical components on the board often include a heat sink to maintain the electrical component temperature at a safe level. The heat sinks are typically applied to circuit board components with an adhesive which has good heat transfer characteristics. During the process of bonding the heat sink to a component, the adhesive material is applied to the component or heat sink, and a uniform amount of pressure is applied to the heat sink to establish a high strength bond with the component. The integrity of the bond is maintained by utilizing a uniform amount of pressure on each heat sink being adhered to the components.
As more than one component might require a heat sink, the heat sinks are individually applied to each component. A fixture holds the component within a press which applies a force to the heat sink, and must necessarily be configured for each individual component as they occupy different positions on the circuit board. To apply heat sinks to different components therefore requires reestablishment of the press position versus the component/heat sink position. Additionally, the heat sink sizes change from component to component, and the amount of pressure applied to different heat sinks, which may be bonded with different adhesives, changes from component to component. These problems have been addressed in the past by employing custom or unique tooling devices to accommodate each heat sink size, as well as circuit board component location on a circuit board, creating inefficiencies in the manufacture of electronic circuit boards.